Psalm 44–49

Psalm 44

Redemption Remembered in Present Dishonor

To the Chief Musician. A aContemplation 1Of the Sons of Korah.

1 We have heard with our ears, O God, bOur fathers have told us,

The deeds You did in their days,

In days of old:

2 cYou drove out the 2nations with Your hand,

But them You planted;

You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out.

3 For dthey did not gain possession of the land by their own sword,

Nor did their own arm save them;

But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance,

eBecause You favored them.

4 fYou are my King, 3O God;

4Command victories for Jacob.

5 Through You gwe will push down our enemies;

Through Your name we will trample those who rise up against us.

6 For hI will not trust in my bow,

Nor shall my sword save me.

7 But You have saved us from our enemies,

And have put to shame those who hated us.

8 iIn God we boast all day long,

And praise Your name forever.

Selah

9 But jYou have cast us off and put us to shame,

And You do not go out with our armies.

10 You make us kturn back from the enemy,

And those who hate us have taken 5spoil for themselves.

11 lYou have given us up like sheep intended for food,

And have mscattered us among the nations.

12 nYou sell Your people for next to nothing,

And are not enriched by selling them.

13 oYou make us a reproach to our neighbors,

A scorn and a derision to those all around us.

14 pYou make us a byword among the nations,

qA shaking of the head among the peoples.

15 My dishonor is continually before me,

And the shame of my face has covered me,

16 Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles,

rBecause of the enemy and the avenger.

17 sAll this has come upon us;

But we have not forgotten You,

Nor have we dealt falsely with Your covenant.

18 Our heart has not turned back,

tNor have our steps departed from Your way;

19 But You have severely broken us in uthe place of jackals,

And covered us vwith the shadow of death.

20 If we had forgotten the name of our God,

Or wstretched 6out our hands to a foreign god,

21 xWould not God search this out?

For He knows the secrets of the heart.

22 yYet for Your sake we are killed all day long;

We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

23 zAwake! Why do You sleep, O Lord?

Arise! Do not cast us off forever.

24 aWhy do You hide Your face,

And forget our affliction and our oppression?

25 For bour soul is bowed down to the 7dust;

Our body clings to the ground.

26 Arise for our help,

And redeem us for Your mercies’ sake.

Psalm 45

The Glories of the Messiah and His Bride

To the Chief Musician. aSet to 1“The Lilies.” A 2Contemplation of the Sons of Korah. A Song of Love.

1 My heart is overflowing with a good theme;

I recite my composition concerning the King;

My tongue is the pen of a 3ready writer.

2 You are fairer than the sons of men;

bGrace is poured upon Your lips;

Therefore God has blessed You forever.

3 4Gird Your csword upon Your thigh, dO Mighty One,

With Your eglory and Your majesty.

4 fAnd in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness;

And Your right hand shall teach You awesome things.

5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies;

The peoples fall under You.

6 gYour throne, O God, is forever and ever;

A hscepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness;

Therefore God, Your God, has ianointed You

With the oil of jgladness more than Your companions.

8 All Your garments are kscented with myrrh and aloes and cassia,

Out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made You glad.

9 lKings’ daughters are among Your honorable women;

mAt Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.

10 Listen, O daughter,

Consider and incline your ear;

nForget your own people also, and your father’s house;

11 So the King will greatly desire your beauty;

oBecause He is your Lord, worship Him.

12 And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;

pThe rich among the people will seek your favor.

13 The royal daughter is all glorious within the palace;

Her clothing is woven with gold.

14 qShe shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors;

The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You.

15 With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought;

They shall enter the King’s palace.

16 Instead of Your fathers shall be Your sons,

rWhom You shall make princes in all the earth.

17 sI will make Your name to be remembered in all generations;

Therefore the people shall praise You forever and ever.

Psalm 46

God the Refuge of His People and Conqueror of the Nations

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. A Song aFor Alamoth.

1 God is our brefuge and strength, cA 1very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear,

Even though the earth be removed,

And though the mountains be carried into the 2midst of the sea;

3 dThough its waters roar and be troubled,

Though the mountains shake with its swelling.

Selah

4 There is a eriver whose streams shall make glad the fcity of God,

The holy place of the 3tabernacle of the Most High.

5 God is gin the midst of her, she shall not be 4moved;

God shall help her, just 5at the break of dawn.

6 hThe nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;

He uttered His voice, the earth melted.

7 The iLord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our refuge.

Selah

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,

Who has made desolations in the earth.

9 jHe makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

kHe breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;

lHe burns the chariot in the fire.

10 Be still, and know that I am God;

mI will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!

11 The Lord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our refuge.

Selah

Psalm 47

Praise to God, the Ruler of the Earth

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

1 Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples!

Shout to God with the voice of triumph!

2 For the Lord Most High is awesome;

He is a great aKing over all the earth.

3 bHe will subdue the peoples under us,

And the nations under our feet.

4 He will choose our cinheritance for us,

The excellence of Jacob whom He loves.

Selah

5 dGod has gone up with a shout,

The Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

6 Sing praises to God, sing praises!

Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

7 eFor God is the King of all the earth;

fSing praises with understanding.

8 gGod reigns over the nations;

God hsits on His iholy throne.

9 The princes of the people have gathered together,

jThe people of the God of Abraham.

kFor the shields of the earth belong to God;

He is greatly exalted.

Psalm 48

The Glory of God in Zion

A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

1 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised

In the acity of our God,

In His holy mountain.

2 bBeautiful in 1elevation,

The joy of the whole earth,

Is Mount Zion on the sides of the north,

The city of the great King.

3 God is in her palaces;

He is known as her refuge.

4 For behold, cthe kings assembled,

They passed by together.

5 They saw it, and so they marveled;

They were troubled, they hastened away.

6 Fear dtook hold of them there,

And pain, as of a woman in birth pangs,

7 As when You break the eships of Tarshish

With an east wind.

8 As we have heard,

So we have seen

In the city of the Lord of hosts,

In the city of our God:

God will festablish it forever.

Selah

9 We have thought, O God, on gYour lovingkindness,

In the midst of Your temple.

10 According to hYour name, O God,

So is Your praise to the ends of the earth;

Your right hand is full of righteousness.

11 Let Mount Zion rejoice,

Let the daughters of Judah be glad,

Because of Your judgments.

12 Walk about Zion,

And go all around her.

Count her towers;

13 Mark well her bulwarks;

Consider her palaces;

That you may itell it to the generation following.

14 For this is God,

Our God forever and ever;

jHe will be our guide

2Even to death.

Psalm 49

The Confidence of the Foolish

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

1 Hear this, all peoples; Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

2 Both low and high,

Rich and poor together.

3 My mouth shall speak wisdom,

And the meditation of my heart shall give understanding.

4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;

I will disclose my 1dark saying on the harp.

5 Why should I fear in the days of evil,

When the iniquity at my heels surrounds me?

6 Those who atrust in their wealth

And boast in the multitude of their riches,

7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother,

Nor bgive to God a ransom for him—

8 For cthe redemption of their souls is costly,

And it shall cease forever—

9 That he should continue to live eternally,

And dnot 2see the Pit.

10 For he sees wise men die;

Likewise the fool and the senseless person perish,

And leave their wealth to others.

11 3Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever,

Their dwelling places to all generations;

They ecall their lands after their own names.

12 Nevertheless man, though in honor, does not 4remain;

He is like the beasts that perish.

13 This is the way of those who are ffoolish,

And of their posterity who approve their sayings.

Selah

14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave;

Death shall feed on them;

gThe upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;

hAnd their beauty shall be consumed in 5the grave, far from their dwelling.

15 But God iwill redeem my soul from the power of 6the grave,

For He shall jreceive me.

Selah

16 Do not be afraid when one becomes rich,

When the glory of his house is increased;

17 For when he dies he shall carry nothing away;

His glory shall not descend after him.

18 Though while he lives khe blesses himself

(For men will praise you when you do well for yourself),

19 He shall go to the generation of his fathers;

They shall never see llight. 7

20 A man who is in honor, yet does not understand,

mIs like the beasts that perish.